Incestuous smugness and Self-loathing

Its startling to observe those around us, who are doing well by all indicators -- arbiters of various persuasions; getting bent out of shape at common courtesies and expressions, including words /phrases such as - thank you, sharing, engaging together; like to be of help, etc. If one is driven to anticipate lurking motives behind such utterances in spite of knowing the utterer-- then perhaps one is living in some form of incestuous smugness and self-loathing; seeking parity with others in that they abide by shared fears.

Momentum & Change

The rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the impressed force and takes place in the direction of the force. (Newtons 2nd Law of Motion)

(excerpts from Why Germany Has It So Good...)
Geoghegan: You see a story in the New York Times every six weeks -- ever since I graduated from college in 1971 -- about how Europe is going to collapse. They come out like clockwork.

McNally: I pulled one of those Times articles in May when the Greek crisis was hot. The headline: "Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits." But you point out that when a country like Germany takes something away from the safety net, they usually balance it with a benefit.

Geoghegan: They cut back on holiday and they add a nursing home benefit. But the US press always focuses on the cutback. One of the reasons I wrote this book was to show that there's a leadership class over there that is very clever about these things. I don't mean in a spurious, tricky way, but actually thinking, "What do we have to cut back now so that we can go forward in the future?"

To quote a wonderful line from the Lampedusa novel, The Leopard: as the old order is collapsing, the Sicilian aristocrat says to his young prince, "We have to change so that everything remains the same." How do you change social democracy so that you preserve it, and maybe even create an opportunity to expand it in a year or two when the wheel of fortune turns again?